Church auction seeks contributions to weave into disaster relief

A hurricane hits New Jersey or an earthquake hits Haiti, Japan or Nepal — when a disaster strikes, the world moves to respond, providing short-term humanitarian aid and assistance along with long-term reconstruction.

For more than three decades, the Church of the Brethren Mid-Atlantic District has held an auction in Carroll County to help fund this type of disaster relief, raising more than $1.6 million since 1981.

The 35th Annual Mid-Atlantic Disaster Response Auction — at the Carroll County Agriculture Center's Shipley Arena in Westminster on Saturday — will look to add to that total.

"When the federal government doesn't reach a particular need that the elderly have or some family might have, we step in," said John Laudermilch, co-chairman of the auction committee. "They did a lot of work in Haiti after the earthquake. A lot of the money locally raised is right now up in New York and New Jersey after Hurricane Sandy."

Saturday's event will kick off with breakfast at 7 a.m., followed by tool and special-item auctions beginning at 9 and 9:30 a.m. Items as diverse as pottery, office desks and turkey callers that have been donated will be auctioned, with all proceeds going to the Church of the Brethren's national disaster relief fund.

It's free to attend and very much open to the public, according to Laudermilch.

"People donate a lot of things of lesser or greater value, and often items they donate go very inexpensively," he said. "There are a lot of bargains to be had."

The early auctions might feature good deals and a variety of goods, but the heart of the event begins at noon, with the handmade quilt and comforter auction. It's not what it once was, according to Laudermilch, with few of the roughly 12 Carroll County Brethren churches still quilting for the auction, but he said it is still a big draw.

"Quilts are our biggest moneymaker," he said. "There are fewer quilters out there and it does seem like everyone has bought a quilt that's going to buy a quilt."

Kaye Horr is a member of the Nimble Thimbles quilting group at the Union Bridge Church of the Brethren that still hand-sews quilts for the annual auction.

"Almost every Church of the Brethren had a quilting group at one time," she said. "In my grandmother's generation that's what they did. … They didn't have TV and didn't travel; they took care of their families and farmed and quilted."

The Nimble Thimbles inherited sewing from their grandmothers, Horr said, but as they get older, it's getting harder to find young people who want to get involved. They've offered quilting classes, but many tentative quilters find the 375 hours of careful stitching necessary to make a full-size quilt a bit overwhelming.

"We meet once per week for two hours year round. We did two quilts this year, so it's really time consuming," she said. "We typically have five quilters; on occasion we might have six, but not a lot more than that. It's a labor of love."

To supplement the few — albeit detailed and large — hand-sewn quilts, the Nimble Thimbles will also supply comforters and other sewn items for the auction, according to Horr.

"We have a lot of smaller baby quilts or wall hangings and individual pieces," she said.

Because fewer churches do quilting today, Laudermilch said, there has been a search for other ways to contribute to fundraising efforts. The results have made the event a tastier one for all who come.

"There are a lot of different churches that do food," he said. "Two churches come together and do breakfast. … One church does salads, another does turkey barbecue."

Westminster Church of the Brethren has found its own particular food niche, according to church member Pat Ecker.

"We are just contributing desserts," she said. "We are selling pies and doughnuts and coffee and iced tea. There are food stands all through the Ag Center."

Meadow Branch Church of the Brethren, also in Westminster, offers support by purchasing ads in the annual auction booklet, which gives attendees a preview of auction lots, according to Sharon Franzen, administrative assistant at the church.

"Our church raised $500 for individuals [booklet] ads," Franzen said. "It just advertises the church, the address and the [church] services."

The auction booklet for this year's event raised $18,308 that will be added to the auction proceeds, Laudermilch said. In 2014, the event raised a total of $65,000.

Ecker said that with the diversity of the contributions from the participating churches, she hopes the event will draw more people in from outside the church community.

"We hope people will come from the general public. They are always invited and there will be plenty of greens and flowers for sale, good food, and it is a fun event raising money for a good cause," she said. "I am sure this money will go to Nepal or wherever else it is needed."